Aaron Wilson House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Ovid’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York serves 7,706 people in and around Ovid. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,403 visits.
What Ovid’s library is like
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York is used less than most libraries its size
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 52%. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2018. Today’s library there has 8,156 square feet. The building ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York serves 7,706 people in and around Ovid, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ovid’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ovid is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Ovid is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Ovid
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Ovid’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Ovid’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2018
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York, 7169 North Main Street, Ovid.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York branch.
New in Ovid? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library
Ford, Edith B., Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 2018. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York serves 7,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,725 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
353 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ovid cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $331K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $294K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $331K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 2,681 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York serves 7,706 people in and around Ovid, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ovid.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Ovid
Does Ovid have a public library?
Yes. Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York, 7169 North Main Street, serves 7,706 people in and around Ovid (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edith B. Ford Memorial Library of Ovid, New York fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ovid’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ovid’s civic life grade?
A Ovid is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Ovid.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.